Melissa Cronin, Ph.D Student

Melissa Cronin is a Ph.D. student in the Coastal Conservation Action Lab at UC Santa Cruz studying Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. She is interested in studying the effective management of marine resources by way of fisheries co-management, traditional management, and strategic conservation actions. Her past research has focused on quantifying the impact of evidence-based marine conservation strategies and mapping global marine aquaculture expansion.

She is also interested in science communication, drawing on her background as an environmental journalist covering climate, politics, and wildlife crime. Her work has appeared in Slate, The New York Times, Gawker, Grist, VICE, Popular Science, and The Nation. She is interested in how storytelling is part of the scientific process, and the ways in which collective narratives shape how science is perceived and acted upon.